Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere
by ToDifferentToBeReal
Summary: Sarah must return to the Underground in order to save it and Jareth. However, as she attempts to do just that she is captured and sent to a whole new world. Sorry I suck at summaries.
1. Chapter 1

**Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere**

**By: TooDiffer2BReal**

**Chapter 1**

**Sarah Williams was not an ordinary person. She didn't have an average life. She didn't have average friends and she did not see average everyday things. She had never been an average person because she was one of only a handful of human mortals who were granted with what some like to call the sight. Some mortals with the sight were sidhe seers; however, Sarah always saw much more than simply the Fae.**

**This fact, however, was not something Sarah herself had always known. When she was far younger, she had believed with all her heart and had known what she saw. She hadn't always been aware that everyone else didn't see these things. As she grew, she dismissed the creatures of her childhood as the whimsies of a fanciful mind.**

**When Sarah turned fifteen, though, things were forever changed when she ventured the land of the Fae. Suddenly, she discovered that everything she'd been telling herself for years was untrue. She realized that the tales of creatures only she could see, tales she'd terrified her parents with at a young age, weren't the grotesque imaginings of a twisted child. **

**Her parents had, of course, assumed these creatures were some strange sorts of imaginary friends and hoped they would eventually fade away. When the stout goblins and fat trolls didn't disappear the distraught adults had taken a small Sarah to a psychiatrist to discover what sort of terrible misdeed that had been done in raising her; they wondered what had caused her to come up with such monstrous fantasies that pushed 'real' human friends away.**

**Sarah, smart, little Sarah, had then learned very quickly to no longer tell her parents about visits from her friends. She'd also learned that she needed to be social and make friends with other boring human children. As she had grown older, she had begun to realize that it wasn't just her parents who didn't see her friends, no one saw them. As she made her way through elementary school, her parents had sent her to every social function possible, after school activities, girl scouts, sleepovers, birthday parties. She had less and less time for her special friends. One day, they suddenly stopped coming; she stopping see them altogether. No more goblins came to steal her socks or spoil her milk, the trolls living in the small, rocky cave in her favorite park disappeared, fairies didn't bite her, she didn't even see the occasional, glowing Fae.**

**What she missed the most, what she had longed to see more than the goblins and fairies, was the lone white, barn owl she'd seen from time to time. She'd always known it was no ordinary owl, his disappearance only confirmed this. At first she'd panicked, she couldn't understand why they'd abandoned her. She thought that they had understood that she didn't belong here and that they made this human world bearable. Had she known that the disappearance of everything she held dear was due to orders from a certain Fae king - though he was only looking out for her well being, having seen how her parents reacted when they realized she still talked to 'nothing' on occasion - then she would have done whatever she could to get back her friends and she probably would have visited the Labyrinth a lot sooner. However, she didn't know and as time wore on, she began to convince herself that they weren't, had never been, real. By the time her imagination had kicked itself back into high gear in her preteen years and she had started to believe, at least a little, in the fantastic again, she had forgotten completely about what she'd seen as a child.**

**She'd been making it through her teenage years, not happily but she'd been surviving, bored with her existence but hoping that one day things would look up. Then the Labyrinth happened and things were never the same. The goblins came back and the fairies. She'd made new friends too, who'd helped her through the maze. She remembered and she was significantly happier with her life, with the friends that only she could see. She was happy until she remembered the one friend, if she could call him that, who hadn't returned.**

**Her special owl, the special owl, a fae like she'd always known he was; and now she knew his other form and his name. He'd always watched over her; he'd answered her call when she'd requested that he take her brother away - even if she hadn't really meant it - and she'd thrown it all back in his face.**

**This sad fact didn't stop her from holding on tight to the friends she did have left. She became accustomed to always having a goblin or several around - and always scolding them about something. Ludo and Didymus visited frequently and accompanied her to the park. But she spoke to Hoggle the most. He was more inclined to and capable of, though not always, answering her questions than anyone else.**

**Several months, nearly a year, after her trip through the Labyrinth he began to end every conversation with a request that she return to the Labyrinth. At first she'd out right refused, she'd been terrified to return, terrified to see what had become of, what she'd done too, the man that she was half in love with, terrified that he might hate her. Over the years, her answer became less terrified and more melancholy. As she grew and matured and began to realize the terrible thing she'd done, she became positive that he must surely hate her.**

**She comforted herself with the fact that he had let her have her friends back and to this day had not taken them away. But he had never come to confront her and had never answered her calls when she'd tried to contact him.**

**However, she also began to realize that she never saw any Fae, maybe she simply couldn't see him. Perhaps she couldn't see Fae anymore; she wondered if maybe she only had partial sight like most other mortals. But she concluded that notion was silly. It didn't make sense. In fact, even the goblins told her this on one occasion. **

**She'd been murmuring to herself when the little creatures dancing around her feet snickered and spoke up. "No, you has full sight. You special. You not get sight from blood."**

**She'd blinked down at him, "Why don't I see the Fae anymore then?"**

"**Fae not come Above no more." Another goblin commented. "They not happy 'bout something."**

**She dropped that particular subject, knowing that the simplistic creatures understood the situation in the Underground as well as she did right now. She chose instead to move on to something else one had mentioned. "Where did I get my sight if not from my family?"**

"**We not 'posed to tell you."**

**She'd left the conversation at that, knowing that the goblins wouldn't say anymore on the subject. If they even knew anymore which she highly doubted anyway.**

**She didn't understand her ability. Sight was passed through the bloodline from generation to generation. She knew that no one else in her family had the ability to see the creatures she saw. However, she accepted her sight for the most part without question. Only a conversation with Hoggle soon after her trip to the Underground made her question the origins of her ability.**

"**I'm glad ya can still sees us, Sarah," He had commented off-handedly as he rummaged through her jewelry box.**

**Sarah had frowned, confused, "What do you mean?"**

"**Well, usually the children who go to the Labyrinth forget us right away or soon after their returns to the Above," He had shrugged, "Even those with the sight forgot us and couldn't see us or any magic creatures anymore. But those were few an' far between. Ya know there used to be more mortals with the sight but there ain't many of you anymore. And ya, Sarah, you are different. Ya have always had the sight and you didn't lose it after ya won the Labyrinth, and ya ain't the first to win, though I can't remember the last time someone did win."**

**She had paused for while and considered the information that he had just bestowed upon her, "Do you know why then?"**

**Hoggle's gaze had shot in her direction, "I can't tell ya that. Unless-"**

"**Unless what?" She had asked warily.**

"**Unless…" He'd paused.**

"**Hoggle."**

"**No, ya wouldn't like it." He had shaken his head.**

"**Unless what, Hoggle?" She had shouted.**

"**Unless ya come back."**

**She had stared at him, stunned momentarily that he was attempting to bribe her into returning to the Underground. "I can't do that."**

"**Why not?" He had demanded.**

"**I-" She'd chocked slightly not quite ready to reveal her fears aloud, "I just can't."**

**He had scowled, "Ya can't even give me a proper reason!"**

"**Hoggle, can't you just tell me-"**

"**I ain't tell ya nothing'." He'd turned away from her, "I'm leavin' now."**

"**Wait!" She had called, but it had been too late and he had been gone, returning through the mirror.**

**He had never been that angry with her before and she was gobsmacked at how he'd reacted.**

**Now, eight years later she still hadn't the slightest inkling as to what was so special about her. She'd also refused multiple more requests to return to the Underground, from Hoggle, her other friends and even the goblins, and wouldn't explain why she refused. She kept her reasons locked in her own mind and those reasons were far from what Hoggle seemed to think kept her in the Aboveground.**

**It had nothing to do with her life in the Above, nothing to do with her parents, her friends or even Toby, especially not recently. As it was her parents had thought her mildly unstable after her trip through the Labyrinth do to catching her having conversations with nothing on occasion. However, at Toby's 8th**** birthday party, when she had walked over to a balloon that had popped quiet suddenly and loudly – though no one but Sarah had seen it bob toward the ground as something pulled it down before it popped – and began to scold the "balloon" about doing such things around large groups of people, her parents along with a large group of 8-year-old boys and their parents thought her completely insane. But really it had just slipped out when the little monster had looked up at her so innocently when she'd gone to pick up the scraps. Now Toby was furious with her because none of his friends wanted to come over or even be his friend, not that their parents would let them be friends with the crazy girl's little brother. After all crazy was contagious and they might catch it. For that matter the little brother may already have it and they could catch it from him. Sarah wasn't exactly baffled by their behavior but she did think it was brainless and ridiculous.**

**Everyone avoided her at all costs, even her parents tried to associate with her as little as possible, which was hard when you lived in the same house. In fact, word had somehow gotten to her boss and she'd been fired because he felt that she 'didn't fit the job as well as they had thought she would.' Suddenly, only her otherworld friends would speak to her. People wouldn't even look at her when they walked by.**

**Quite honestly, the Aboveground made her miserable. The goblins were her only companions and, truthfully, they always had been. She'd never fit in well with people, they'd always thought her eccentric and now most thought her insane.**

**Her otherworldly friends knew this and were perplexed by her refusal to return to the Underground. She never explained despite the inquiries, she told them they wouldn't understand.**

**Staying at home only made her more miserable. She didn't have a job and she was barely scraping by. So she moved away from her home town to someplace far more secluded. She found a cabin in the mountains that allowed her adequate privacy to live with her strange visitors and speak with them freely. She worked from home and only ventured into the nearby town to buy necessities.**

**The people in town appreciated her want to be alone in the mountains and she found that many thought her quite nice. She liked being able to start anew here but she knew this wasn't really where she wanted to be.**

**She was not happy per say but she was content.**

**Surprisingly, she enjoyed the goblins company; though the creatures had their annoying tendencies, they really were like children in many ways. She found that she had to frequently discipline them but she liked to take care of them. They filled the empty spaces in her house, she liked the quiet of living alone but she needed their noise on occasion.**

**She had a few visitors from time to time and most of them thought that it was animals she was scolding or putting away when someone came to the door. She'd taken to having Didymus bring Ambrosias to the house on occasion when she was expecting someone from town to come deliver something so that people thought she had at least a dog.**

**She told people she loved animals, and honestly she did, having studied veterinary medicine for a while when her acting career had fallen flat. But the cost of school had been too great for her to handle on her own and her parents refused to help her, forcing her to quit.**

**Some in town knew of this and as a result she'd had a few injured animals brought to her that needed to be nursed back to health for no one else seemed to have the time for the animals. That was how she'd come across the owl, the one that had revealed to her more than a simple owl should have been able to.**

"**You're Sarah right?" The woman standing in her door way asked. "Well, that must be a silly question."**

"**Can I help you?" Sarah asked. She hadn't been expected anyone that day.**

"**Well, I heard that you were a vet and you take care of injured animals," The woman shuffled nervously and clutched the box in her hand tighter.**

**Sarah nodded and leaned over the box, "What have you got for me?"**

"**I found him near my back yard just inside the woods," The woman shifted the box and moved back the blanket.**

**A barn owl hooted at the brightness and tucked itself farther in the box. Sarah flinched but knew that she had to take care of this owl. She wouldn't forgive herself if she didn't. She reached forward and signaled for the woman to shift the box into her arms.**

"**Are you sure? I mean, if you really can't…" She trailed off.**

"**I will take him," Sarah replied wrapping her arms around the box and turning to reenter the house. "Thank you for bringing him to me."**

"**Oh, he has a broken wing! I was going to drive into the city to take him to the veterinary hospital but you were closer and…I hope you have everything you need to take care of him." The woman spoke to her back.**

**Sarah looked over her shoulder, "I do, he should be fine in a few months if it's just a break. Sorry to rush you out but I should really wrap his wing. Bye."**

"**Um, bye, thank you," The woman turned and left.**

**Sarah set the box on the table and dimmed the lights and closed the shades**

**She uncovered the owl carefully, it flapped its useful wing slightly before settling down again. She made soothing noises as she examined the broken wing.**

"**Where'd ya get that?"**

**Sarah turned slightly and spotted Hoggle standing in the entryway to the kitchen, several goblins squeezed pasted him to enter the kitchen and climbed on the table to peer into the box.**

"**A women brought him to me to heal him," Sarah said.**

"**Lady heal?" Suddenly the goblins became quite excited.**

"**Yes," She frowned a little confused at their excitement.**

"**With magic?" Turnip bounce slightly next to the box.**

**Sarah blinked, "With magic?"**

"**Heal with magic, see?" At this One reached forward and lightly touched the wing a small light flowed from his hand to the wing. "You finish."**

"**Goblins have a little healing magic," Hoggle explained, still in the door way.**

"**You too." Gunge stated.**

"**I don't have magic," Sarah said.**

"**Lady have magic," Squitch reached for her hand and touched it to the wing.**

**Sarah stared at her hand, "I don't have any magic."**

"**Yes, heal," One exclaimed, "Lady focus, Lady heal."**

**Sarah looked back at Hoggle and he shrugged, "Just do it."**

**Sarah sighed and concentrated on the wing, "What am I doing?" She sighed.**

"**Think heal," One stated.**

**Sarah did and watched stunned as the same white light she'd seem from One curled from her fingers and settled into the bird's wing. She jerked her hand back, but apparently not before completely healing the birds wings. It began to flap both of them and she reacted quickly, clasping the bird in her hands to transport it outside. When she came back into the house she slumped into a chair and stared at the wall. "What just happened?"**

"**Lady heal bird." Turnip grinned toothily.**

"**How?"**

**Hoggle snorted, "You've seen magic before, ain't ya?"**

"**But Hoggle, I don't-" Sarah protested.**

"**Don't tell me you ain't got magic." Hoggle growled. "I just saw with my own two eyes. Ignore it if you want but don't say ya ain't got it."**

"**This is too much for me to process," Sarah shook her head.**

**After that the owl incident was slowly forgotten, Sarah determinedly set her life back on its 'normal' course. If Hoggle wasn't going to explain things to her than she would just have to ignore them for now until she got up the guts to return to the Labyrinth and confront him. As it was the day when she returned to the Labyrinth came a lot sooner than she had thought it would.**

**Sarah sat in her chair, the fire place blazing across from her, reading a book. Outside it was snowy and cold but calm, despite the quiet she knew the weather would likely turn soon. The hour was late and she still hadn't eaten supper. Her stomach soon signaled that she should do that soon when she heard a clattering from her room.**

**She stiffened, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end, and slowly shut her book. No one bothered her up here this late except for the occasional animal and of course the goblins. She been on edge all day, feeling as if something important was just about to happen. Despite this the day had been very peaceful and usual, so she forced herself to relax and looked around the room at the dozing creatures.**

**Many frequented her house and a few stayed with her nearly at all times. She didn't see anyone missing but that didn't mean that an extra one or two hadn't decided to pay her a visit.**

**She slowly made her way to the hallway and crept toward her room. She gently pushed the door open and sighed when she saw Hoggle struggling on her vanity attempting to get out of the mirror.**

"**Hoggle?" She called, rushing forward to help the dwarf.**

"**Sarah," He said, brushing himself off. "I need ya to do something'."**

"**Ok," She nodded. **

"**And ya can't say no." He stated**

"**Alright."**

"**Ya have to do this!"**

"**I got it, Hoggle!" She snapped.**

"**Please come back to the Underground." Hoggle begged.**

"**Hoggle-"**

"**Please, Sarah. We need ya. There ain't no one else I can ask," He pleaded.**

**Sarah stared at him.**

"**He needs ya. Jareth needs ya." He stressed.**

**Sarah's breath caught in her throat, "What's wrong?"**

"**He's dyin'," He said straightforwardly.**

**Sarah leaned back against the door, stunned. "Dying?"**

"**Ya have to save him." He rushed on, "The Underground will die without him."**

"**Why, Hoggle? Why is he dying? Why is the Underground dying?" Sarah questioned bemusedly.**

"**There are some things that ya need to hear from him. I can tell ya that he is the High King and without the High King the Underground will crumble." Hoggle explained, "The High King or Queen would pass on their responsibilities to their children but Jareth ain't got any children. He's the last in his line and if he dies so does the Underground."**

"**But, Hoggle, what can I do? I'm just a mortal, a human, all I have is the sight and a little bit of healing magic that I've only every used to heal an owl's broken wing," Sarah said, wide-eyed.**

"**Sarah, ya are the only one who can fix this," Hoggle affirmed.**

**Sarah slid to the floor and stared straight ahead, "He's dying."**

"**If ya don't hurry up he'll be dead instead of dying," Hoggle growled.**

"**I don't want him to die," She looked at Hoggle. "He's always been there for me, watching over me. He needs me now so I need to be there for him."**

**Hoggle smirked.**

"**I don't want him to die and I don't want the Underground to die," Sarah stood up and looked down at Hoggle.**

"**There we go, that's the Sarah I know," Hoggle said.**

"**Do I need anything? Should I take something with me or just take myself?" Sarah glanced around her room.**

"**There's really no time to pack anything," Hoggle said.**

**Sarah nodded and turned to leave the room. She put out the fire and turned to the sleeping goblins, "Everybody up!"**

**The creatures startled awake and stared groggily up at her.**

"**What lady want?" One questioned.**

"**We're leaving, One." She said.**

"**Where we go?" Squitch said while rubbing his eyes.**

"**We're going back to the Labyrinth," Sarah shooed them toward her room.**

"**And lady going too? Lady go to Labyrinth?" Gunge asked, bouncing up and down.**

"**Yes, I'm going too," Sarah stated.**

**Cheers erupted in the hall as the goblins danced excitedly.**

"**Come, come, we have no time for this."**

"**Hurry up," Hoggle yelled from the room.**

"**See, Hoggle is getting angry with us." Sarah scolded the creatures.**

"**We see you later, in city," Squitch said and at that signal they all disappeared, back to their homes she assumed.**

**She reentered her room and looked at Hoggle, "I'm ready, let's go."**

**He gestured to the mirror. "Ladies first."**

"**Show me how to do it," Sarah requested nervously.**

**Hoggle sighed and scrambled up onto the vanity before reaching a hand through the mirror, which rippled like a liquid, and following that hand with the rest of his body.**

**Sarah stared at the mirror, at Hoggle waiting on the other side and steeled herself. She wanted to go back. She's always wanted to go back, she'd always wanted to see Jareth again. She didn't want the Underground to fall apart and she most certainly didn't want its king to die.**

**So she placed a knee on the vanity and pushed her hand through the mirror. It felt like it looked, like dipping her hand into water, and she quickly pushed herself through the rest of the way.**


	2. Chapter 2

Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere

By: TooDiffer2BReal

Chapter 2

Life is full of turning points. Some are mere curves in the road. Others are traumatic in ways that you never forget.

Sarah Williams had experienced plenty of curves in the road that was her life but a large majority of her turning points had been of the kind that she would never forget. She had experienced far more turning points of the traumatic, unforgettable type than most average humans would in only twenty-three years of life.

This particular event was one of those unforgettable ones. But then finding out that the man of one's dreams - both literally and figuratively - the very man whom she had been pretty much in love with since she was a teenager, was dying, tended to be quite traumatic. And that was the very reason that Sarah found herself returning to the Labyrinth eight years after her first trip through at fifteen to save its King.

Sarah landed on the ground with a thud, she glanced around her and recognized the outer wall of the Labyrinth. "We have to go through the Labyrinth?"

"Yes," Hoggle said, not sparing her a moment as he marched right up to the entrance and into the Labyrinth. He paused briefly to glance at her, "Coming?"

"Of course," She hopped to her feet and hurried after him. The doors closed behind her but she paid them no mind as she followed He, who was hurrying forward in a single-minded manner.

Though the Labyrinth had exactly been gorgeous or in perfect shape on her first trip through, she noticed that it now appeared to be a little worse for wear. She noticed a few crumbling walls and she didn't see as many of the strange eye plants that she had seen the first time.

"Don't fall behind," He grumbled, as he turned sharply and the Labyrinth suddenly changed.

Before them stood a door and she had a fairly good idea where it would lead. He proved her right when he pushed said door open and peered down into a seemingly endless hole.

"Don't worry, no helping hands in this one, just a ladder," He smirked and he turned and lead the way down into the underground of the Labyrinth.

"Why are we going down?" She asked, peering after him, hesitating to follow.

"Easy to get through the Labyrinth faster and unseen," Hoggle responded.

"Unseen?" Sarah looked around suddenly, "Who don't we want to see us?"

"Fae," He said simply, staring up at her from the bottom of the ladder.

"Fae?" She frowned.

"Yes," He grumbled, gesturing with his hand, "Now come down here before someone sees ya."

She glanced around once more before turning and starting down the ladder. "Can we get to the castle this way?"

"Of course, I know all the best secret passageways," The dwarf stated matter-of-factly. He turned as soon as Sarah's feet hit the floor and began walking down the dim passageway. Sarah was forced to duck to avoid some low hanging spider webs.

"Cleaners ain't worked in a long time, not since Jareth fell ill," Hoggle gestured to the utter unkemptness of the tunnel.

"How long has Jareth been sick? How long has he been dying?" She asked as she stumbled slightly over the uneven pathway.

He glanced back at her for a moment, regret in his gaze before looking forward again, "Time don't move the same here as it does in the Above."

"How long, Hoggle?" She demanded.

"About eight years Above time," He growled continuing to stomp forward.

"Eight?" Sarah gasped, "This is my fault isn't it? Eight years ago was how long ago I ran the Labyrinth!"

Hoggle cringed slightly, "I knew ya was gonna say that so I ain't sayin' no more about that subject."

Sarah remained silent, starring down the tunnel. The underground passageway was long and dirty. The walls weren't smooth. Spider webs were everywhere, hanging from the walls and ceiling. Water dripped from the ceiling and down the walls. If not for the well worn, smooth path and the occasional torch, she would have thought that she was merely in a cave.

Though long, the tunnel wasn't straight. There were several sharp turns and even a few forks. She didn't really know how Hoggle knew where he was going, perhaps he frequently used these tunnels, but that wasn't what she was thinking about at all.

"Listen," Hoggle sighed, "don't blame yerself."

"How can't I, Hoggle?" Sarah said, "I know he wasn't the ultimate villain and that I cruelly threw all his work back in his face. Damn, I love the man and he probably hates me."

Hoggle paused and turned to look at Sarah, slightly wide-eyed.

Sarah blinked down at him, "What?" She went back over her words in her head and her own eyes widened, "Oh. I…I mean…Oh it doesn't matter, as I said he probably hates me. After all he's dying because of me."

"Ya can't blame yerself," Hoggle repeated, "It comes down to a whole lot more than just you."

Sarah growled, "Then explain it to me, tell me everything."

Hoggle looked at the ground, "He needs to tell you." He turned to walk away.

"Hoggle," Sarah called after him, "Then tell me why this is happening. Why will the Underground die with him? You told me a little but there has to be more. Why can't he pass the throne to someone he chooses so the Underground does fall apart."

"The royal line is old." Hoggle explained. "To hold the throne ya gotta have royal blood. There ain't no one but Jareth with royal blood except his parents and they already passed on the throne to him so they can't take it back. The throne can only go forward not back. It all has to do with the magic that flows through the Underground."

Sarah winced. His parents, she'd never really thought about Jareth's parents. Surely they must despise her. She knew all this somehow led back to her and her decision to refuse Jareth's offer, even though Hoggle wouldn't tell her exactly how.

"Really it's that magic that is killin' Jareth." The dwarf said. "Ya see, the magic is sorta like a whole, thinking entity. It decides what it feels is right and wrong but it ain't really smart or logical. However, usually it's easily controlled in most matters except for a few. This High King of Queen controls it but Jareth ain't in no shape to control anything."

"So, the magic is what? Running rampant?" Sarah questioned.

"It's destroyin' itself and the Underground, not on purpose of course," Hoggle stated grimly. "Without the High King to keep things controlled everything falls apart."

Sarah frowned, "Why doesn't the magic spare the High King from it's what do you call them…? Rules. Obviously those rules aren't working very well, after all it is destroying itself. Oh will, destroy itself."

"Don't think anyone should be exempt from its decisions, I guess." Hoggle shrugged, "Like I said, it ain't super smart. It may be ancient but it's power of thought ain't. It's sorta like a child that needs to be looked after. It kinda has a scewed sense of right and wrong. It has always been there, it manipulates the Underground and it's creatures, gives magic to those creatures and lands, but that is it."

Sarah scowled, "Alright, I got it."

Hoggle looked back at Sarah, "That's good, cause that's about all I can tell ya."

Sarah sighed and looked around the tunnel again. She noticed the it had changed. As opposed to the rough hewn walls and the worn smooth floor there were smooth carved walls and ceilings and brick-laid paths. The tunnel was better lit, torches were more frequent. Water didn't drip from the ceiling or down the walls. The tunnel looked more like it had been made rather than carved from the earth.

"We're under the castle," Hoggle commented.

Sarah blinked, "Really?"

"Faster when you don't have to go through the whole maze," He smirked.

Sarah followed Hoggle around a few more sharp turns at which point the hall darkened significantly. She began to get the feeling that these tunnels were even less frequently used then the ones under the Labyrinth.

"These are secret passages around the castle. I wish there was one that took us right to Jareth's chambers but there ain't so we'll get as close as possible." Hoggle said as he paused at the bottom of a ladder.

He began to climb but he paused and looked down at her, "When we get into the castle be as quiet as possible, we wouldn't want to get caught by any guards."

Sarah nodded and followed him up the ladder.

Once at the top of the ladder Hoggle crept down a narrow hallway that had one sharp turn before they reached a dead end. Sarah watched as Hoggle pressed a stone on the wall and it vanished before her eyes. The dwarf stepped into what she guessed to be some sort of closet. He eased the door open and peeked out. From what she could see it was dark in the hall, if her eyes hadn't been adjusted to the dark already she probably would have been near blind. She wondered briefly why the torches were extinguished but dismissed the thought. When Hoggle beckoned her to follow she edged into the hall behind him.

"Be careful," THe dawrf whispered, "There may be a few goblins lying around in the hall-"

At that moment Sarah thought that perhaps he should have warned her before they entered the hall because before he even finished the statement she toppled over one of the creatures laying in the middle of the floor and crashed to the ground.

"They like to trip the guards," Hoggle sighed, hoping the goblin didn't wake.

But the goblin did just that and upon seeing Sarah it let out a loud whoop and danced around her chanting, "Lady back, lady back."

This noise has several other goblins awake in seconds flat and soon there was a roaring cheer in the hall and a rabble of dancing around the mortal woman still sprawled on the floor.

Hoggle cursed and began to berate the goblins but they weren't listening to him. Sarah scolded them and they began to quiet down but it was far, far to late. Guards were coming to investigate and while under normal circumstances they would have steered clear of the goblins, merely looking to see why the goblins were so rowdy so late at night, usually it was over a chicken or some other livestock. However, as soon as the guards spotted the mortal women in the middle of the crowd they surged into action.

They paid no mind to the fact that the goblins actually liked this women or that she was very successfully calming them down. They simply kicked the things out of the way and immediately arrested the trespasser.

Several goblins launched themselves at the legs of the guards they so despised, taking their opportunity to attack. They clawed and bit at ankles and legs. Several scaled the bodies of the guards and tore at the arms and hands attempting to free Sarah. As a result the goblins were kicked and flung across the room, bouncing off walls. They immediately bounced right back up though and gave chase. Until Sarah ordered them to stop.

"All of you, stop!" She scolded over her shoulder, "I will be absolutely fine."

The goblins stopped in the hall, staring after her. They looked back to Hoggle, who hadn't done anything the moment the fae had seized Sarah.

"What we do?" Mud looked up at Hoggle.

"Kinga free Lady, we tell him," Squitch quipped.

Hoggle shook his head, "He can barely get outta bed, he won't be able to save her. Not only that but the moment they find out who she is, they won't care what he says. He's been pretty much replaced in the courts for now. "

"Lady go to dirty cell," Paste looked down as if he could see through the floor into the cells he spoke of.

"I know, the dungeons ain't no place for a lady." Hoggle said. "I'll figure out something'."

Sarah paced in the dingy cell. It looked quite medieval and she was glad that they had forgone chaining her to the wall with the shackles that hung from iron rings. It was wet, dark and moldy. She'd caught a glimpse of a torture chamber on the way to the cell and really hoped that they didn't use it anymore. The imprisonment facilities were medieval but she certainly hoped that law and punishment wasn't.

She really had no clue what they were going to do with her. She wondered if she would get some sort of trial or if the guards would just do with her what they thought fit her crimes. She knew the later most certainly wouldn't go well.

She sighed as she walked from one side of the cell to the other and ignored the rats she could hear scurrying around.

"Hey!" The guard standing beyond the bars yelled, "Stop that or I'll chain you up to the wall so you can't move."

Sarah glared at him but moved to the center of the cell and straightened the frayed, torn, dirty blanket before plopping down on it. She sat glaring at the iron bars and listening to the steady drip-drip of water.

Just as she was wondering how long she was going to have to spend in these conditions. Another guard waltzed up to the cell door and unlocked it. He nudged the door up with the toe of his boot, avoiding touching the bars with his skin, and marched up to her.

She simply stared at him and obviously he expected her to jump to her feet at his presence because he grabbed her forearm and hauled her up. When he released her arm, she glared and brushed at where his hand had been.

He growled at her and shoved her out of the cell. He ushered her down the hall and right toward the room she fear most. Her eyes widened and she resisted slightly, her bravado faltering.

The guard shoved her harder and she didn't have to look to know he was sneering down at her. "Good news," He snarled, "We've decided what your punishment will be."

Sarah shook her head and planted her feet as he tried to push her into the room. "You can't do this."

"Sure I can," He rumbled, "You don't just trespass in the castle without consequences, mortal."

"You don't understand," Sarah pleaded.

"Listen, just deal with this or it'll be much worse," He snapped.

"I wasn't trespassing!"

"Well, I don't know who you are and neither does anyone else." He explained, slowly as if talking to a very small child. "You obviously weren't invited and that is called trespassing."

"No really," Sarah continued, "I came here to help the King."

"Really?" He let out a bark of laughter, "And what does a human like you expect to be able to do?"

"I don't know," She clenched her teeth, "I don't know but I felt responsible. I felt the need to come and do something."

He snorted, "There's nothing you can do. He'll die and we'll all follow soon after him."

"Hoggle said I could do something," Sarah stated, "He said that I was the only one who could fix this."

The guard frown, "Just who are you?"

She frowned, wondering if it was smart to tell him her name. She sighed, just her first name couldn't hurt, "Sarah is my name."

"Sarah?"

She nodded.

"Sarah?"

"That's what I said," She snapped.

"Have you run the Labyrinth?" He questioned.

She paused, knowing right where this was leading and certain that it would land her in a worse situation that this one. She told him anyway, having no other choice, "Yes, about 8 years ago."

He roared, turning her roughly around and dragging her down the hall. He flung her roughly back into the cell. She slammed to door shut and roughly locked it. He yelled down the hall, glaring at her through the bars. Another male came storming down the stone corridor, every thundering step echoing.

"Tell the court we have Sarah," He barked.

The other fae looked into the cell with wide eyes before fleeing to carry out his order.

"You're full of surprises, aren't you?" He mocked.

She stared forward, ignoring him.

"You should have kept you mouth shut," He smirked and turned. He laughed as he walked down the hall and it echoed ominously.

When the laugher faded, she sat alone in silence and darkness. She stared blindly in front of her. Suddenly a goblin appeared in front of her, holding something glowing in his hands.

"We sorry," Mud mumbled. "We get lady put here."

Sarah frowned, patting him on the head, "It's ok, it's not your fault."

"I bring you glow. So it not so dark." He held up the small glowing orb.

She didn't know exactly what it was but she took it, grateful for relief from the darkness. "Thank you."

"I stay?" He looked up at her with wide, innocent eyes.

Sarah nodded, "That would be wonderful."

He smiled and curled up against her side, quickly falling asleep. Though it was silent she was grateful to have another being in the cell with her.

She heard steps echoing off the stones and she quickly pulled the blanket over Mud and into her lap, hiding him sufficiently. She shoved the glowing ball into her pocket and place a hand over it so it was dark again.

"Sarah?" She heard Hoggle's voice.

She gasped and called, "Hoggle?"

She pulled the glow back out of her pocket and illuminated the area around her. The dwarf appeared outside her cell, holding a bundle.

"I wish I could get ya out, Sarah but that guard took my keys when he moved in. He has the only keys in the castle now. I haven't been able to steal 'em back no matter how hard I try." He sighed, "I brought ya food and a clean blanket."

Sarah shifted Mud and stood to walk to the bars. She reached through to grab what he offered. "Thank you."

"Yer gonna be in a worse situation now that they know who ya are," He murmured.

She nodded, "I know. I don't blame you. I'll figure this out. I promise. I'll save him."

He nodded and looked down the dark corridor, "I have to go but I'll be back."

She returned to Mud, sitting and silently eating the food that Hoggle had given her. She wrapped herself in the clean blanket and dozed.

When she woke the next morning, Mud and the glow were gone and it was once again dark. She didn't sit long before the guard from the day before came into her cell and jerked her up. He slapped some iron shackles on her wrists and dragged her from the dungeons.

Outside the castle she was thrown into a black carriage with bars on the windows and locks on the doors, all with not a word from the guard. The carriage jerked forward and continued at a fast pace well into the night. Sarah didn't sleep. She was being treated as a prisoner, a felon, in a land that she didn't know. She hadn't gotten to Jareth and she didn't know if she would be able to return to him before it was too late.

Finally, she assumed sometime in the middle of the next day, they stopped. When Sarah was pulled from the carriage she could see a bustling city and she was being dragged toward the lavish looking castle at its center. Every person they passed glared at her with hate, disgust, loathing. She felt like a monster.

She was led in silence, the guard refused to even look at her. She didn't understand what was going on until she was thrown into what reminded of a sort of courtroom. Suddenly it dawned on her, she was getting her trail, for what exactly she didn't really know. It certainly had to be much more than trespassing.

She stood in the middle of the room on a circular platform, with railing around the outer edge. Around the room, higher up, was seating for those who were interested in watching the trail. In front of her was a line or seats raised, two higher than the rest. This was were the court would sit.

She watched in silence as people filled the higher seating, glaring, snarling, spitting. Then a guard came into the room and commanded all to rise.

Aristocrat filed into the seating in front of her, but the two raised seats were left empty. As soon as the court had taken their seats, the audience was seated and the proceedings began.

One member of the court stood and stared down at her, "You are being charge with trespassing on the royal property of the Goblin Kingdom, trespassing in the Underground and the destruction of the Underground and it King."

Murmurs went up in the crowd, angry hisses, and a gavel was banged and order called. Sarah winced, knowing that somehow they would blame her for that, after all she even blamed herself.

"How do you plead?" The aristocrat asked once the crowd quieted.

Sarah gulped, "Not guilty."

Once again the crowd hissed, shouting angrily at her. She stood tall, back straight, unafraid. She'd come here for a purpose, she'd come here to fix the wrongs that she felt she had done and their opinion of her didn't matter.

"Well, then," He commented, "I suppose we just have to discuss your punishment."

Sarah gawked, "Wait, that's it? No witnesses, no evidence, no nothing?"

He smirked, chuckling, "Our law works differently than yours."

"So why bring me here?" Sarah asked, "Why not just pass your sentence with out dragging me from the Goblin Kingdom? You didn't need me here to say two words. You could have just decided and had those in the Goblin Kingdom deal out my so called punishment."

The aristocrat glared at her, "Our decisions aren't to be questioned."

"Well, I'm questioning them, aren't I?" She snapped.

"I don't think you understand the way things work here," He barked.

"No, I do, believe me." She smiled, "Your lifestyle, your morals, your laws are much like that of the medieval era in the Above. We've long since moved passed that."

The man sputter slightly before glaring. He turned and left the room, the rest of the court quickly followed him out, ready to deliberate.

Sarah knew she'd probably shot herself in the foot but she hadn't been able to hold in her distaste. Somehow she got the feeling that if Jareth had seen how his courts were being handled he wouldn't have been very pleased.

A/N: Sorry this took so long. Both my beta and I have been busy what with the holidays right as I finished it and with finals coming up and term papers due, etc. So I sent it to another beta who had more time and she kindly edited for me.

This one kinda fell to hell, there is a LOT of dialogue but that's just how it worked out. This chapter isn't as good or interesting as the last one but it is necessary stuff for the rest of the story. I know a lot happened in this chapter, or maybe you don't feel that anything happened, it could go either way but I don't intend for this story to be very long anyway. So let me know what you think. The third chapter is going to take a while because I have finals that I need to finish but then I have 3 weeks of break so I should be able to finish it by around the beginning of January.


	3. Chapter 3

Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere

By: TooDiffer2BReal

Chapter 3

There are days when all you want to do is sit down on the ground and cry, and there are days that you're so happy smiling makes your face hurt. This was one of the former. Sarah really hadn't expected this day to be one of that latter, not by far, but she also hadn't expected the former.

Here she stood in the middle of a courtroom in the Underground, surrounded by fae and immortal, awaiting punishment for crimes that were, for the most part, mediocre at best. Except maybe the last one. She would probably be angry at someone who had in all effect destroyed her world. Even if the Underground still existed at the moment, it wouldn't for long if Jareth died.

She closed her eyes and sighed. What a day, if things had gone her way she would be attempting to save Jareth right now.

Her eyes snapped open when she heard the aristocrats of the court shuffle back into the room and take their seats.

The same man who had spoken to her earlier, stood and addressed her once more, "We have determined your sentence."

Sarah clenched her jaw and leaned slightly forward, awaiting his next words.

"You are to be banished." He smirked.

Cheers went through the crowd. Shouts of glee rang in the air. Sarah blinked, thinking that perhaps she didn't really understand.

"Excuse me," She shouted. "Excuse me!"

The crowd was brought to order and silence filled the room again.

"Banished? To where?" Sarah question

The man threw his head back and laughed, "You will find out shortly. You will fit right in. Only the worst criminals are banished to this place and no one ever escapes."

"What if I do escape?" Sarah asked.

The aristocrat snorted, "Then we'll let you go back to the Above. Or you can stay here and watch as the Underground falls apart because of you."

Sarah winced and looked off to the side.

"But that won't happen, you'll never escape," He bit out. "Take her away and prepare someone to take her."

Sarah was once again dragged roughly off. She was taken down into the dungeons and these cells actually held people. Due to their use it was significantly brighter in these dungeons but also far dirtier. It smelled rank and she could see rats scuttling across the ground.

Her lips curled back in disgust but she didn't cower away from the filth.

Once in her cell she stood in the middle of it, steering clear of the bars and the men behind them.

"Not often we get a pretty thing like you in here," A man to her right commented.

"Yes, well," She bit out.

"How long ya here for?" He asked.

"No clue," She responded, "Not long, I suppose. I've already been sentenced. I'm to be banished to a place where only the worst criminals go."

He raised a brow, "And what could a little thing like you have done that is so bad?"

She looked over at him, eyes narrowed, "I destroyed the Underground and its king."

He blinked and chuckled, "So yer Sarah then."

"Indeed," She looked forward again. Then she glanced back over at him, "What did you do then? To end up here?"

He shrugged, "No clue. Something or other to piss off one of the aristocrats. I'm sure they'll make something up for me."

Sarah frowned, "Has the law here always been like this?"

"Nah," He said, "But it's been this way since the High King…became ill."

Sarah winced, "He's a good king."

The man smiled, "Yeah, he was as fair as possible. Not like the ones in charge now."

"He'll get better," Sarah said.

"I don't think you understand how what is happening to him works," He stared at her.

"I'll make sure he does," She stated.

"Sure you will," The man chuckled and turned away from her.

Sarah sighed, sitting on the damp floor and awaiting those who would take her away. She listened to the rabble of the other prisoners and the chatter of a few guards, falling asleep to the indistinguishable background noise. She was torn from a light doze by the clanging of the lock on the door of her cell. As she rubbed her eyes groggily she was hauled up and tossed over the shoulder of a burly guard.

"Hey," She exclaimed, "Put me down."

"It time to leave, sweetheart." He grumbled.

She growled and resisted the urge to kick him in the gut, which would be easy in her current position.

He carried her up several flights stairs and out into an enclosed, open air courtyard. There was an elaborate circle drawn on the ground with a pentagon inside the circle and lines connecting the five points to a smaller circle in the center of the large. At each point stood a fae and in the center stood another. She was carried into the center of the circle and dumped into the arms of the male fae who stood there. He removed the shackles from her wrists back grasped her hands tightly together.

"Ready," He called out to the others.

Each of the other fae knelt at their corner of the pentagon and set the hands in small circles near the points. She watched as magic flowed visibly into the circle and toward her and the man.

Once the magic reached them, the man waited several moments before she felt him teleport them. They emerged in a desolate landscape.

The man shoved her roughly and she tumbled to the sandy ground. He tossed a pack at her before smirking. She gritted her teeth and flipped him the bird just before he disappeared.

Grumbling she stood and reached for the pack. She rummaged through it, noticing they'd provided her with meagar rations, a raggedy outfit and one canteen of water. She sighed and glanced around her.

She determined that it would be best to get a move on. Trekking off in one direction, she walked for about an hour by her estimates without seeing any plant life or of any kind.

Growling, she continued on and soon came upon a small gathering of sparse vegetation. There was a single tree, that appeared to be dead, surrounded by a few shrubs and bushes decorating the land pathetically.

Sarah placed a palm against the bark of the dead, silvery tree beside her and looked once more upon the barren landscape stretching beyond her. Everything appeared to be painted in various shades of gray and aside from the one tree and silver, grey shrubs near her, it looked like nothing but sand, or maybe dirt, or maybe both stretched on into grayness. The sky was dull, clouded, gray and let in just barely sufficient amounts of light. Ever the air around her was hazy, dusty.

But despite the complete barrenness and strangeness of her surrounds, the only thing she could really think about was her need to get back to the Underground, back to Jareth. For all she knew, she was still in the Underground.

"Where am I?" She muttered.

She jumped when a gravelly voice behind her rumbled, "Everyone knows this is Nowhere."

Sarah spun around and stared at the creature, who regarded her back silently through black eyes. She blinked and asked. "What are you?"

It smiled, maybe, she couldn't tell but she did hear a rumbling chuckle. Then it turned and began to lumber away without answering her.

"Wait," She called, "Who are you?"

"I'm nobody," It laughed. "Who are you? Are you nobody too?"

"No, I'm Sarah," She said.

It gave a slight nod before turning away.

"But where do I go?" She looked around her at the desert looking landscape.

"There is a town in that direction," The creature pointed.

Sarah stared in the direction it pointed in and frowned. She saw a lot of nothing to the horizon.

She turned back to the creature to find that it had already moved away from her and was heading away from the direction it had pointed. Sarah looked back over her shoulder and then, setting her jaw, marched after the creature.

"Wait!" She called, "Wait."

The creature swiveled its head in her direction and stared, "I thought I said a town was in the other direction."

"You did, but I'll get lost," Sarah explained, "There is nothing for me to make sure I'm heading in the right direction. I could just end up walking in circles."

The creature stared at her before turning around without a word and heading in the opposite direction.

"You don't have to take me," Sarah said.

"Yes, but I won't get rid of you until I do take you there." It commented.

Sarah smiled and nodded, "Pretty much."

"Where do you come from? You look like nothing I have ever seen here before."

"You've never seen a human before?" Sarah blinked.

"That is not what I said," It said, "I have seen a handful of immortal humans and even fewer mortal humans. You, however, do not seem as though you have come from the Underground as most of the creatures sent here proclaim to be."

"I'm from the Aboveground," Sarah explained, "It's where most mortal humans live."

"Well, Nowhere really isn't a place that a mortal human female like you should wander alone. Especially if you do not possess any magical ability."

"But I do have a little magic ability," Sarah said.

The black eyes focused on her and she could tell that it was awaiting an explanation.

"I know a minimal amount of healing magic," She muttered, realizing that healing magic wouldn't do her much good in a fight.

"I maintain my previous statement," The creature swung its head away from her.

Sarah studied the creature as it walked. With a large head resembling the skull of a big cat with a slightly elongated snout coved by a dark black-gray skin connect tight over the head as well as the rest of the body and black eyes in the sockets, it looked more like a walking skeleton of some large animal she had never seen before. Its long bony arms that ended with long, pointed, dangerous-looking claws couldn't really be associated with anything she knew. Hunched and leaning slightly forward on two legs. These legs were large and long with sharply clawed toes, reminding her of the legs of a dinosaur.

A good two feet taller and much larger than Sarah it gave the aura of being very dangerous but had so far had disproved that notion.

"What are you?" Sarah questioned again.

"You would not know of my species nor does it matter." It said.

"Does your species have more than one gender?"

"Two, just as humans and fae and many other species," It drawled.

"Do the genders look different?"

"No, females would look very similar to me, if a bit smaller." It stated.

Ah, a male then. Sarah asked, "Do you really have no name?"

He looked over at her and nodded, "I am a solitary creature; I have no need of a name."

Sarah frowned, "Were you banished here too?"

"No, I am one of the few creatures born to this world." He said.

"There are creatures that are from this world and those of the Underground just invaded this world and dumped their criminals here?" Sarah shouted, suddenly very angry. She wondered if this was a punishment had decided to use or if Jareth had approved of this and used it too.

"We do not bother them and they do not bother us. There is not much in this world and no potential for a full scale civilization. Nor can they use their magic here." He said.

"Why is it so dangerous here then?" She frowned.

"Because of the criminals, but for the most part because of the land itself. If you do not know your way around you can become hopelessly lost and die." He said.

Sarah nodded and ceased her questioning. She wondered how she would get back without magic. If she couldn't find a way back then she wouldn't be able to save Jareth. She felt a stab in her heart at the thought. She had to find a way, no matter what. But if she didn't make it on time, she would never forgive herself.

She knew they were fairly close to the town, as she could see the dark smoke of fires rising into the gray sky. She frowned wondering what a town full of criminals would be like, certainly not the nicest place to hang around. She probably should be terrified to be going to a place like this but she wasn't they type to simply wilt away in the face of danger.

She knew that she could take care of herself but she also needed to be careful and think before she acted.

She glanced at her companion, "You'll be leaving then?"

He nodded.

"What if I should need to find you again?" She asked.

He shook his head, "You won't."

She wondered if he meant that she wouldn't find him or that she wouldn't need to find him. She frowned, her expression becoming determined, "Somehow I feel like we will meet again and I will find you when I need too."

He chuckled, "Good luck then, perhaps I shall see you in the future." He turned and began to walk away.

She watched him for a while, walking into the distance. Then squaring her shoulders, Sarah prepared herself before entering the town.

A/N: Again this took a long time. College is a bit hectic for me but mostly for my beta. She took a while to read it over. But it is here. It's a bit shorter than the other two and it's a bit boring. But this is necessary I swear and it will pick up soon.


End file.
